


Listen Up

by Rainne



Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Ableist Language, American Sign Language, Banned Together Bingo 2020, Disability, Gen, deafness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-06-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:14:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24625309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rainne/pseuds/Rainne
Summary: In which Steve briefly loses his hearing.
Comments: 19
Kudos: 136
Collections: Banned Together Bingo 2020





	Listen Up

When Steve wakes up, Bucky and Clint are in the process of dragging him toward the Quinjet. He shakes his head, trying to clear it, and they catch the movement and stop, putting him down.

Bucky kneels down beside him and says something, but Steve shakes his head. Bucky says it again, but Steve shakes his head again. Then he points to his own ear. “Can’t hear you,” he says, wondering how loud he’s speaking. It’s so hard to regulate his own volume when he can’t hear himself.

Bucky nods. He lifts both hands and points his index fingers at each other, then makes a twisting motion with each hand.

Steve points to his head. “Got a headache,” he says. “And I might have some bruised ribs. Otherwise, I’m good.”

Clint, who had walked away, comes back. He looks down at Steve and holds out two fists, pushing them down, before making a walking motion with flat hands.

“Yeah, I can walk,” Steve says. He holds out his hands. “Help me up.”

They pull him to his feet and Bucky helps steady him while he finds his balance, and then they turn and hoof it to the Quinjet where the others are waiting. There’s clearly a babble of conversation going on, but Steve ignores everything in favor of herding everyone onto the jet so they can take off.

Once they’re in the air with Clint at the controls, Steve faces the rest of the team. “Can’t hear,” he says succinctly. “Guess I was too close when the thing went boom.”

Natasha says something slowly and clearly, but Steve shakes his head. “Can’t read lips,” he says. “Always been terrible at it. Never used to be a big deal when I had at least one ear, but right now I got neither one. Just let Bucky sign for you; he remembers how.”

Bucky moves his hands. _She wants to know if you got the…_ He stops, looks frustrated, and then spells with one hand. _I-N-T-E-L._

“Oh,” Steve says. He pulls a USB drive out of one of his pouches, then removes a thick manila folder from under his chest armor. “Got it.”

She gives him two thumbs up and takes what he’s offering, sitting back to start flipping through the papers.

From the other side of the jet, Tony is waving frantically to try and get Steve’s attention. He lifts a flat hand, touching his fingertips to his forehead, and then holds up both index fingers, circling his hands around one another vertically.

Steve blinks in surprise. “You know how to sign? Where’d you learn?”

And the answer, to no one’s real surprise, is: boarding school. Tony’s not actually very good at it; most of what he knows are swears and anatomical words, but he also knows the alphabet and Steve’s patient.

“I got a question,” Clint says, letting Sam take the jet’s controls and coming back to the back. He signs while he speaks. “How do _you_ know sign? I didn’t think it was allowed when you were a kid.”

“Wasn’t,” Steve replies. “Best way to get kids to learn something is to tell ‘em they’re not allowed. I could talk, you know, I could hear from my one ear, but the kids that couldn’t, they all used the signs, and they taught it to the rest of us on the playground and after school and stuff. So I’d come home and teach Bucky.”

“You didn’t go to the same school?” Bruce asks.

Bucky signs the question to Steve before saying “Nah, Stevie went to the deaf school til sixth grade; after that he came to the public school with me, though.”

Steve shakes his head. “Shit, my ears are starting to ring.”

 _Good,_ Bucky signs. _Once you can hear again I’m beating your A-S-S._

Steve blinks. “For what?!”

Bucky makes a fist and smacks the palm-side of it against his forehead, his expression flat and unimpressed.

“Don’t call me a dummy!” Steve, who had sat down, lurches to his feet, his fists clenched.

Bucky holds up both hands in a placating gesture, then makes a fist again and rubs it in a circle over his chest in apology. _Being that close to the B-O-M-B was not smart!_

“I was getting away,” Steve replies, his fists slowly relaxing. “It went off sooner than I expected.”

Bucky shrugs. _Don’t care._

“You know, it’s not fair if we only get Steve’s half of the conversation,” Natasha gripes. Bucky signs this to Steve.

“Count yourself lucky you’re getting any of it at all,” Steve tells her. And then, just to be an asshole, he signs at Bucky, who, looking deeply unimpressed, signs back.

Clint goes into the tiny galley kitchen to make popcorn.

**Author's Note:**

> For the Banned Together Bingo 2020 prompt "banned languages".
> 
> \---
> 
> Note: The term "dummy" has often been used in the past to refer to Deaf/HoH people. Don't do that.


End file.
